Jupiter makes its closestapproach to Earth in 47years this week.

The planet Jupiter will be
at its closest to the Earth
since 1963 tomorrow and
Tuesday, scientists say.
This will cause the
planet's appearance to
peak at a brightness and
size not seen since then.
The planet Uranus will
also make a close
approach, but will be
more difficult to spot, as
it is much farther away.
Scientists say that Jupiter
will rise at about the
time of sunset and will
be nearly directly
overhead at midnight.
The only brighter object
that will be in the sky at
that time will be the
moon. NASA scientist
Tony Phillips said "Jupiter
is so bright right now,
you don't need a sky map
to find it." It will not
appear this bright again
until 2022.
Jupiter will pass within
368 million miles of Earth
at the time of closest
approach. Although this
will occur on Monday and
Tuesday, it will remain
large and bright for
approximately another
month.
During this event, the
planet will be located in
the sky not far from the
moon. Some of the
planet's own moons will
be visible with the aid of
a telescope or
binoculars.
According to NASA
scientists, Earth-Jupiter
encounters occur about
every 13 months. Since
both planets' orbits are
slightly elliptical,
meaning they are not
perfect circles around
the Sun, the distance
varies in each encounter.
Jupiter, the largest
planet in the Solar
System, is the fifth
planet from the Sun and
is more massive than all
of the other planets
combined, about 318
times as massive as the
Earth.
From wikipedia.com